Life According to the Spirit, Part 9

To. Paul’s epistle to the Romans,
I have placed. I placed notes in your window
down on the volume, if you would please. I have placed notes. In your bulletin, if you prefer. And I will refer to those several
times this morning. It is perhaps. Never easier to
pray than when our relationship with God is fresh and new. We’ve been forgiven since we
learned of Christ, we’ve had our sins forgiven, we now know
and have free access to the creator and king of the universe. Those
thoughts are at the forefront of our mind and we are drawn
to God because of it. This God who we until now knew
as being aloof and harsh. We now know to be a loving God
our heavenly father. And so we come to him. And it’s
easy. We talk to him freely and we’re
excited to do so because we never have. At least not like this. We talk to him. I remember years
ago hearing a young man, a young Christian man, approach God for
his first time in prayer. As he bowed his head, I remember
him introducing himself to God by name. He may have even provided God
with his address. I can’t recall. I remember hearing
another young lady, a new convert, bow her head before she ate.
She simply bowed her head and said, God, thank you for my toast. I believe God loves those prayers.
He loves their simplicity. He loves their sincerity. As
I said, it’s never easier to pray than when we’re new in the
Lord, is it? But as we grow in the Lord, We
find ourselves figuring out God to a degree. We begin to mature
in the Lord and it shows in how we pray. Our prayers are deeper.
They’re more theologically significant and theologically accurate. Some
of that is helpful. We begin to realize that we’re
not really informing God of anything and that changes our prayers
for the better. But much of that that we bring to prayer is cumbersome
and it cannot help. But we can our communication
with God. It’s a well. Discussed fact in
Major League Baseball that pitchers aren’t the greatest hitters and
they’re not the greatest hitters because as pitchers when they
take the plate to hit, they’re constantly trying to figure out.
And. predict what the pitcher on the
mound is going to do. Will it be a fastball? Will it
be a curveball? We do the same thing. We begin
to try to outthink God. And instead of praying, we’re
really instructing God, reminding God. Much of that we turn to make
our prayer life more difficult. We’ve learned a few things about
God and the Christian life. And so we begin to work around
those things. We begin to play the angles,
don’t we? We even attempt to play God against himself, claiming
things and citing contracts to God. We struggle and we stammer
in our prayer because of what we’ve learned, we find ourselves
at times like Jacob wrestling with God. But not in such noble
a way. Some of that is as it should
be. But for the most part, we become
downright frustrated. In our prayer, and sometimes
we do not persevere in it. And so we try to find ways to
muddle through as our prayer life becomes difficult. We attend
prayer summits. We find prayer partners. We read
prayer books. We set ourselves with prayer
calendars and on and on it goes. In some of those things, we find
tremendous spiritual value. Accountability with others has
its place. And we are profitably instructed
at times by other well-seasoned saints in reading their own prayer
journeys. We even take classes and sit
under lessons and sermons on prayer, and we are rescued for
a season. We are rescued By little treatments
such as the acrostic ACTS adoration, confession, thanksgiving and
supplication. Something like that gives framework
to our prayer. And that does it for a while. It gives the needed framework
for our prayer, but it was never like it was at the beginning. As we grow. We are certain at
times that our prayer life gets worse. And then as troubles and
trials and difficulties mount, as prayers seemingly go unanswered,
our prayer life becomes even more enfeebled. And then we begin to bring theology
into our prayers. We never have a more difficult
time in prayer than once we begin to try and reconcile our prayers
with the sovereignty of God. It may even prompt us to lay
aside prayer for a season because it was never like it was at the
beginning. Prayer is the single greatest weakness that a Christian
encounters in his or her walk with Christ. God knows it. Paul knows it. And he moves to
address it in the passage before us. In order that we may set
the context properly, we find ourselves in chapter eight considering. Divine enablement or divine assistance. The way that God helps the Christian,
that’s chapter eight, but in verses 12 through 27, it’s the
Holy Spirit that is particularly in view. If you would, let’s
consider this passage in its entirety, beginning in verse
12. Where Paul wrote, So then, brethren, we are under obligation,
not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you are
living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the spirit
you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For all who are being led by the spirit of God, these are
the sons of God. For you have not received the
spirit of slavery leading to fear again, But you have received
the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs
also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed
we suffer with him. In order that we may also be
glorified with him, for I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the
creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will,
but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation
itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains
of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also
we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit, even we
ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption
as sons, the redemption of our body, for in hope we have been
saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one
also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do
not see with perseverance, we eagerly wait for it. And in the
same way, the spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know
how to pray as we should. But the spirit himself intercedes
for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches
the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is, because he
intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We come, I believe. To the fifth
particular feature where Paul is expounding upon
the Spirit’s blessing of help in the lives of Christians. We
have looked at four. We looked at four ways that the
Spirit explicitly helps us. In verse 13 B we saw that the
spirit assists us with mortification of sin that leads to life. It’s done by means of by the
power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t just take up battle
against sin one day and expect to win it on our own. It’s by
the power of the spirit. We saw in verse 14 that the Spirit
gives guidance that essentially reveals us as sons. The Holy
Spirit doesn’t give guidance to all mankind. The Holy Spirit
gives guidance to God’s precious children. Believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We saw in verse 15 the third
feature of the Spirit’s assistance that the Spirit engenders this
affection that in itself engenders affection of God. We love God
because he first loved us, as it echoes 1 John. The fourth
feature was that God provides, through the Holy Spirit, an affirmation
that promises an inheritance. And that has been a lengthy point,
as we have seen, from verses 16 all the way down through verse
25. That was point for an affirmation that promises an inheritance. Paul had much to say there. Paul
had much to say, and he’s not finished yet. Come this morning
to a fifth point. A fifth blessing that the spirit
is used by God. To do in the lives of his saints
is to provide intercession that overcomes our inability. Intercession
that overcomes our inability. If you would take your notes
or open your Bible, glance down, if you would, at verse 26. We’re going to get the problem portions
of this passage pushed aside and dealt with quickly this morning
because we face the biggest one right away. Verse 26, it says,
and in the same way, the spirit also helps our weakness. And it’s fosters the question
in the same way as what. Now there were some that said.
And there are only three views so don’t panic. We’re going to
deal with them quickly. There were some that said that
you should attach this thought the thought must be attached
to verses 24 and 25. The hope in which we are saved
that not only do we have hope but we also in the same way have
the Holy Spirit. As one said. Not exactly stirring
confidence. When he said probably the reference
is to the thought just previous. Probably. Another said that it refers to
the hope and expectation of the glory to be revealed. They sustain
the people of God in the sufferings and groanings of this present
time and in like manner, the Holy Spirit helps our infirmity.
So some said attach it to those immediately preceding verses,
verses 24 and 25. It’s the whole reason I’ve given
you this outline, because I think you can see graphically it doesn’t
fit. It doesn’t fit. There’s a better
one. The second option is to attach
it to the thought that is expressed in verses 22 and 23. The groaning
both of creation and of believers. And as we can even see in this
passage, the Holy Spirit is shown to come and alongside with all
creation, groan with us and with all creation. And with some,
this particular view is a very strongly held conclusion. One
pastor said it in these terms. The intended comparison must
surely be between the creation’s groaning and our groaning and
the spirit’s groaning. Now, admittedly, that particular
view has in favor of it the fact that just as creation groans,
verse 22, and even Christians groan, verse 23, here in verse
27, it is the Holy Spirit who also groans. That is true. So in a sense, this is a good
and plausible connection, I just think there’s a better one, as
I hope to show. What I would suggest. Is that
Paul attaches this all the way back to verse 16, and I’ll tell
you why in a moment. It picks up the thought that
he has been continuing, he’s showing us yet another way that
the Holy Spirit is used by God to encourage and build up. Believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are some that feel
that to do so, to look all the way back to verse 16 and attach
these verses in parallel fashion to that is to go too far, literally.
One pastor said the reference is too remote to suit the character
of the passage, and what he basically proposes that we do is fold this
in to verses 16 through 25 as just yet another point in the
long string that Paul had already argued. But if you step back
if you step back and we remind ourselves of the stated purpose
of this chapter divine assistance for the Christian and that Paul
takes each member of the Godhead in turn with regard to their
particular contribution to the Saints. And that the foundation,
as we saw, was laid in the Lord Jesus Christ in verses 1 through
11. And the Holy Spirit comes into
focus here in verses 12 through 27, which section we have been
currently studying, which section has already shown those four
particular areas where the Spirit has rendered divine assistance,
mortification, guidance, acceptance, affirmation. If we remember all
of that. then it’s easier by far to glance
down and see that this is the fifth and final means of the
Spirit’s assistance. At least the fifth and final
that Paul will discuss here. And this point is perfectly parallel
with the preceding four. Now we saw, glancing down at
verses 16 through 25, We saw as we spent six weeks on point
number four, that it was a very lengthy section. And it was all
one point affirmation that promises inheritance and exegetically
those verses belong together. As Paul builds upon his argument,
adding reason to reason, it is a very lengthy section. But I
don’t believe that Paul is adding yet one more Thought to that
point, he has more to say, but it’s something new. It’s another
way in which the Holy Spirit helps believers. In addition
to the structure of the passage, Paul provides a few clues regarding
the underlying outline of this passage, because first he says. That the spirit also helps. The spirit also helps. Not only
does Paul say in the same way, but he says also that little
word also suggests that the spirit does this. But he also does something
else. For you, grammarians, the spirit
is the subject of this little sentence, not hope, not groaning. Besides this groaning, as we
saw last week, the groaning does us no good. It brings no spiritual
value. Paul didn’t identify it as sinful
because it isn’t grumbling per se. It’s groaning under the weight
and stresses of life, but it brings us no spiritual good. Paul said. Paul spoke of groaning merely
as a fact, but here Paul is speaking of a positive benefit. And so
we’re looking for the great subject of this entire section, the Holy
Spirit. And you have to go all the way
back to verse 16. Before you see the spirit as
the subject of the sentence. And so it’s to these verses that
this final point. Verses 26 and 27 should be connected. Listen. As in verse 16, where
Paul says the spirit bears witness here in verse 26, he says in
the same way, the spirit also helps. It’s that simple. Verses
26 and 27 provide us with Paul’s fifth particular means of the
Spirit’s assistance. Intercession that overcomes our
ability. Glance again at the passage.
Paul says in the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness. The spirit. We’ve talked about
it before. There are occasions where the
spirit is spoken of as generically or even the human spirit. But
here, there’s no doubt about it. It’s the Holy Spirit and
the Holy Spirit is said to help. It’s a big compound word soon
on to Lombardo. It literally means to grab hold
of something for the means of assisting. Some of you know that
our son has had this dizziness for the past week. And there
is no getting from point A to point B without assistance. We
literally have had to grab hold of him and escort him down through
the hallway. That’s the nature of the help
that is provided. It means to take up another’s
burden, to literally get in and roll up your sleeves and to render
the assistance that is needed for the given situation. What
is in view here is What Paul presents is that the Holy Spirit
essentially rolls up his sleeves and gets down with us to our
deepest need. And renders aid for the pressure
that we bear. Now, from time to time, we’ll
look at other passages, right? Other New Testament passages
and see how the word was used. You know, the only other place
that this word is used, it’s in that passage in Luke where
Martha and Mary are preparing for Jesus. And it says that Martha
was distracted by all of her preparations and she came up
to Jesus and said Lord do you not care that my sister has left
me to do all the serving alone. Tell her to help me. Tell her to roll up her sleeves
as it were and get down here and do the practical assistance
that is so necessary. The New Testament, that’s the
only other place that it’s used. But in the Greek translation
of the Old Testament, we have a couple of other examples. I’ll
use just one. Moses, remember Moses, he fell
into the occupational pitfall of the ministry of trying to
do everything himself. Right. In an Exodus chapter 18,
Moses’ father-in-law comes to him. And since the thing you
are doing is not good, you will surely wear out both yourself
and these people who are with you for the task is too heavy
for you. You cannot do it alone. Now,
listen, I will give you counsel and God will be with you. You
will be the people’s representative before God and you will bring
disputes to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws and
to make them know the way in which they are to walk in the
work they are to do. Furthermore, you shall select
out of all these people, able men who fear God, men of truth,
Nothing has changed, right? Men of truth, those who hate
dishonest gain, and you shall place these over them as leaders
of thousands of hundreds of fifties and of tens, let them judge the
people at all times and let them let it be that every major dispute
they will bring to you. But every minor dispute they
themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you
and they will bear the burden with you. That’s our word. They
will literally roll up their sleeves and get down with you
and bear your burden and help. And Paul says that is what the
Holy Spirit does for us. The Holy Spirit also helps. Literally puts, as it were, his
hand. To the assistance that we so
desperately need, he helps. Our weakness. No, all of us would say we have
many weaknesses. And we would tongue in cheek,
say my weakness is chocolate or my weakness is this, but we
know we know we have weaknesses, legitimate weaknesses. Some of
us struggle with what we look at. Some of us struggle with
how we use our tongues. Some of us struggle in our attitudes
and our impatience with others. God knows those weaknesses and
the word is general. The word could be used of all
that stands in the way. Of a more patient expectation
of God. One said it this way, infirmity
is a comprehensive term and it is. A comprehensive term in itself
and can cover the whole range of the weakness which characterizes
us in this life. We need not suppose that the
infirmity in view is restricted to the matter of prayer. In other
words. He says that, look, we have an abundant a plethora. Of weaknesses, there’s no need
to hold this down to prayer. Except that that’s exactly what
Paul does. Paul says the spirit also helps
our weakness, and then he immediately goes into our greatest weakness
of all. It is weakness with prayer. There’s no doubt, generally speaking,
that the Holy Spirit helps our weakness, that’s exactly what
he was sent for, correct? After all, Jesus identified the
Holy Spirit as the helper. But Paul has some particular
weakness in mind here some universal element of the Christian life
as we’ve already discussed an element that is typically and
regularly so fraught with weakness that Paul treats this as the
common experience of the Christian. It’s a regular feature of the
Christian life to struggle in prayer. To struggle with our
ability to communicate with God, the God that we love. It’s our
prayer life. Our very lifeline to God, the
open door to God that has been reestablished because of our
relationship with Christ. And you would think that how
natural, how easy that would be. But as I outlined at the
first. We know what has muddied it.
It’s a relationship so wonderful, and yet it’s. A line of communication
that is so fragile. We come before him and our words
become muddled. We stammer, we pause. We search
our minds for the words and sentences to communicate our deepest thoughts,
but to no avail, we are weak. We don’t know how to pray. So
he sends his Holy Spirit To come and to help this most common
of weakness. Glanced down at the passage. And in the same way, the spirit
also helps our weakness. Why? For we do not know how to
pray as we should. We do not know how to pray now.
It’s obvious that he’s not talking about total ignorance. Obviously,
we know how to pray. We don’t have to bow our heads.
We don’t have to close our eyes. We don’t have to fold our hands.
We don’t have to take a knee. We don’t have to do those things
to talk to God. We know that we can talk to God
in the silence of our own minds. We know also that we can pull
aside into a closet and pour ourselves out verbally and emotionally
before Him. Paul’s not talking about a total
ignorance that we don’t know what prayer is or how to do it. What he points to here is that
we don’t know the right things. We don’t know the right particulars
in praying. All believers ultimately fall under this difficulty. That’s why Paul treats it as
universal. That all believers come to a point in their Christian
life where Even if it’s an episode, an event in their life, a difficulty,
a challenge, they find themselves suddenly without words. They’ve
prayed to this God that they love their entire Christian life,
and now they suddenly are before him speechless. They do not know
what to say. They do not know how to offer
up one more prayer on the subject at hand. They’ve asked and asked
and asked and pleaded with God. One pastor said prayer covers
every aspect of our need. And our weakness is exemplified
and laid bare by the fact that we do not know what to pray.
It is not our ignorance, nor the right manner of prayer, but
rather our ignorance respecting the proper content. We get to
a point in our lives where we are speechless before him. We know not what to pray as the
urgency of our situations demand. Paul knew Paul of all people,
as you will see, Paul urged us to pray. Paul commanded us in
many areas to pray. Paul laid upon the example of
Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ did when he was on Earth and
what Jesus Christ taught when he was on Earth. And Paul builds
upon that, urging us to pray. Paul knew what to pray for. Paul
knew that he had to pray for a magnanimous spirit, a forgiving
heart. Paul knew that he had to pray
constantly and urged others to pray constantly to cultivate
peace and unity in their fellowships. Paul knew that we had to constantly
pray, and frequently he prayed for others to pray for him to
be ready, a ready witness for the Lord. Paul knew that he needed
courage and that others would as well. Paul knew how to pray
in that sense. Paul knew generally how to pray
and so do we. We know that we want to pray
for the lost and typically what we do is we pray just like children. We pray for all the missionaries
in the whole wide world and we think that that. That is effective
prayer. From time to time. I shared with you that prayer time
in small groups is not my favorite time because we spend more time
talking about the prayers than we do actually praying for them.
Paul knows that God knows that we need rather. God knows exactly
what our deepest. And most difficult things are. But because of. The fact that
we are fallen. Because of the fact that we sometimes
lose sight. Of what God’s best is because
we don’t know God’s mind because of our own weaknesses because
we are limited in our spiritual scope. We cannot put our finger
on precisely what is the best way to pray in every given situation. Even Christians. Even solid believers. You know them. Some of you are
them. You pray regularly. You’re faithful
in prayer. You keep a prayer journal. You
pray deeply and sincerely. You pull aside and get quiet
with God. And yet even in those moments, you know, you’ve had
them. We’ve all had them. And that’s why Paul is treating
this as a universal case. We’ve all had those moments where
we hit the wall, as it were. We hit the wall and we don’t
even know the next syllable. We can’t even put it on our lips.
We’re stuck. Our hearts are broken. So we get to the point of. All
right, then why pray at all? We’ve all had those moments as
well, haven’t we? Why pray at all? And we plow through, we
know that we’re commanded to pray, and so we get back on our
knees, don’t we? As a Christian, we know that
we long to communicate with our God. We long to talk to him and
communicate with him, to tell him about our struggles, even
to thank him for the blessings that we do have. But if you note here in this
passage, there’s an interesting observation. It seems here that
the Holy Spirit intercedes only for those who are actively praying.
So don’t expect the Holy Spirit just to take over your prayer
life. Don’t expect to throw up your hands and say, see, I don’t
know what to pray. I’m going to let the Holy Spirit
handle this one. That’s not the way it works. Most of our prayers that are
offered, they don’t necessarily warrant the direct intercession
of the Holy Spirit. There are times where God bids
us to pray and we come on our knees to pray and we do so faithfully
and God hears us. It’s not that we don’t ever know
how to pray, but there are those seasons of difficulty and challenge
when Our thoughts mount, but the words are sparse. That’s
Paul’s point. The disciples struggled in prayer. The disciples, though they had
seen the Lord Jesus regularly in prayer, though he had taught
numerous lessons on prayer and shown them by his own life in
prayer, The disciples struggled. Luke gives us the context of
what I would call not the Lord’s prayer but the disciples prayer
because Jesus taught it to the disciples. The Lord didn’t need
a prayer of his own per se. He used this as a means to teach
his disciples. But only Luke gives us the context
in Luke 11. It happened that while Jesus
was praying in a certain place after he had finished, one of
his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. He essentially
echoed what Paul says here, we do not know how to pray as we
should. We don’t even know what things
to ask for. Matthew goes on with a much fuller
version of the disciples prayer. When he says pray then in this
way recording Christ’s words our father who is in heaven hallowed
be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors
and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. Yours
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The disciples didn’t know exactly how to pray, and Jesus, one of
his main roles was to instruct and to model in that particular
area. Jesus didn’t offer that prayer
as a formula, as a simple fix. What Jesus did there was give
them a rough example of what it is to come before God To plead
for your daily food. To thank Him for your blessings. To deal with your own sin more
readily than you deal with your neighbors. Glance down at the
passage. In the same way, the Spirit also
helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should.
But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us. What a comfort this is
to the saints. The spirit comes in and helps
our weakness by interceding, praying along for us. And in
a sense, this is an added blessing, we know that as Christians we
have two divine intercessors talking to God about us, not
only does Christ do it, but here it says the Holy Spirit does
it as well. Hebrews 725 says he is able to save forever those
who draw near to him through him, since he always lives to
make intercession for them, spoken of Christ. But here the helper
is said to come on our behalf and to offer up prayers, to go
on our behalf and to plead our case to God himself. He says that he does it by way
of these groanings. This Holy Spirit. Offers up these prayers to God.
On our behalf, and it says that they come in the form of groanings
too deep for words. Groanings too deep for words.
One commentator I read made a lengthy attempt to deflect and destroy
the idea that these are the spirits groanings. He said it this way,
the groanings will have to be understood as the groaning which
are registered in the hearts of the children of God. We cannot reasonably think of
the Holy Spirit himself, apart from the agency and instrumentality
of those on whose behalf he intercedes as presenting his intercessions
to the father in the form of his own groanings. Do you hear
what he’s saying? He’s saying it’s inconceivable
to think that the Holy Spirit would look up to God and groan. Except that that’s exactly what
the passage says. It’s funny, but the same commentator
proceeds to correctly attribute the intercession of verse 26
and the mind of verse 27 to the Holy Spirit. So in his opinion,
the Holy Spirit can intercede and he can think he’s just not
allowed to groan. But the scriptures speak repeatedly
about God himself, the Heavenly Father, grieved The Holy Spirit
is not to be grieved. The Lord Jesus Christ in this
earthly life was grieved. The Holy Spirit himself. Is said
here to groan on our behalf in his communication with the Heavenly
Father. I don’t know exactly what it looks like. Paul says
inexpressible words. Groanings too deep for words.
I don’t know what it looks like. But I do know what the passage
says, that it says that the spirit himself intercedes for us, goes
on behalf of us to the heavenly father with groanings too deep
for words. We couldn’t put a language to
it. We couldn’t understand what the spirit is saying. I almost
come away with this feeling. That perhaps there is this cry,
this groaning of agony, that when we are in pain, the spirit
has a language with God all his own, and all he has to do is
come alongside and bear up that same cry of agony. Perhaps there is the sob of grief.
Perhaps in the Holy Spirit’s language, in his interface with
the Father, he has a language all his own, and when we sob,
Out of grief. The Holy Spirit echoes that sob,
perhaps there is the wail of bitterness, perhaps there is
a whimper of defeat, perhaps there is the grimacing sigh of
exasperation, perhaps there is the sigh of frustration, perhaps
there is a moan of pain, perhaps there is a groan of burden. I
don’t know. But it says that the Holy Spirit
intercedes, goes before us to God the Father, And when he does,
he groans. Too deep for words. And it says
that he who searches the hearts. Overwhelmingly identified in
the Old Testament as God himself, the heavenly father. Repeatedly
throughout 1 Chronicles 28, 9, 1 Samuel 16, 7, 1 Kings 8, 39,
all speak of God as the searcher of hearts. It’s the father that
he’s talking about. It’s the father that is in view
and that’s carried all the way through to the New Testament. Hebrews 413, there is no creature
hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare
before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. God knows our
hearts. What’s his point? His point is that if God knows
human hearts, every human heart, he already has heard that echo
of pain and Why would he not know the Holy Spirit’s heart?
Why would he not know most intimately? The third member of the Godhead.
A note, but it says he who searches the heart knows the mind of the
spirit. Because he intercedes for the saints according to the
will of God, the Holy Spirit never acts independently. Never
acts independently of Christ, he never acts independently of
God the Father. It is the Godhead three in one.
So it’s not surprising that the God knows our hearts, God knows
our struggles, God knows what the Holy Spirit is bringing up
on our behalf. The whole reason that God. Affirms. And understands these prayers
is that they are made by the Holy Spirit that is acting in
God’s stead, is acting on God’s behalf. God knows your heart. God knows
your struggle. And the encouraging thing to
the Saints is that when we bow on our knees and we’re in the
midst of. What seems like life ending difficulty,
God knows. God already knows, and the Holy
Spirit is already acting on your behalf. When your world has been turned
upside down by some difficulty or tragedy, When some heartache
strikes and you cannot possibly be comforted by any human means,
when friends have deserted you or even Christian friends have
failed you. When your heart has been broken, when difficulty
or trial or persecution comes, when life as you thought it should
be seems to be crumbling at the very foundation, when nothing
makes sense, When reality doesn’t square with your theology, when
answers are elusive, when you’re blindsided by some difficulty
or tragedy, when all human counsel is empty and meaningless, when
your health or your friend or your business or your reputation
has failed. The spirit helps our weakness
because in those moments we do not know how to pray as we should.
But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep
for words. What an encouragement to the
saints of God. To the children of God who stand in the midst
of great difficulty on frequent measure. The Holy Spirit is there
interceding with God on your behalf. Let’s go before Him now. We humble ourselves before you,
and Lord, we do know this as, at least insofar as us, universal. The universal difficulty of mankind. That whereas we start so easily
in prayer and flourish for so long, there are those difficulties
in life where we come face to face. with our inability to communicate
with you. And Lord, we know that it’s at
that time that the Holy Spirit picks up, as it were, and takes
over and intercedes on our behalf. Grant us grace, Father, that
we might persevere in prayer through these seasons, knowing
that the Holy Spirit is upholding us and interceding for us. And
Lord God, may you strengthen us make us to not only abide
but to stand firm in your grace. Thank you for Paul’s words. Thank
you for your words to us. Ladies and gentlemen, in Jesus’
name.